Even my first real job out of high school was working at a department store cosmetics counter. By the age of twenty, I had worked my way up to counter manager for a luxury brand before quitting to become a freelance makeup artist. I had been on both sides of the makeup aisle, so to speak, and pretty much thought I’d seen and knew it all. It had been a long time since the world of cosmetics retail excited me.
Upon walking into that first Korean cosmetics store, a cheery, brightly lit space lined with gorgeously packaged goodies, I was in awe. It was exhilarating! Each shelf was teaming with products calling to me to pick them up and explore. To my delight, not only was the packaging exciting, so were the formulations. I very quickly found items that not only matched the quality of my old holy-grail favorites; they surpassed them.
